Tuesday, July 08, 2014

Don't (immediately) believe everything you see or read on the internet

None of us should need to be reminded of that, but it's clear that reminders are sometimes necessary—especially on topics where passions run high. Here's one cautionary note from the BBC. —Jeff Weintraub

Graphic images are being shared on social media to show how people have been affected by the renewed tensions between Israel and the Palestinians.

Hamas has been firing rockets from Gaza into southern Israel, which has responded with airstrikes on Gaza. Several Palestinian militants have been killed and on Tuesday it was reported that at least 15 Palestinians had been injured.

Over the past week the hashtag #GazaUnderAttack has been used hundreds of thousands of times, often to distribute pictures claiming to show the effects the airstrikes.

Some of the images are of the current situation in Gaza, but a #BBCtrending analysis has found that some date as far back as 2009 and others are from conflicts in Syria and Iraq.

Produced by Neil Meads
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All our stories are at bbc.com/trending

About Me

Jeff Weintraub is a social & political theorist, political sociologist, and democratic socialist who has been teaching most recently at the University of Pennsylvania, Bryn Mawr College, and the New School for Social Research, He was a Visiting Scholar at the Center for European Studies at Harvard University in 2015-2016 and a Research Associate at the Graduate School of Social Work and Social Research, Bryn Mawr College.
(Also an Affiliated Professor with the University of Haifa in Israel & an opponent of academic blacklists.)